AVCA Poll

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - The second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University women's volleyball treks north for its final road regular season contest of the season, meeting No. 17 University of Chicago Wednesday, Nov. 4. The Titans take a 24-2 record into their third straight ranked contest, while the Maroons check in at 20-5. Action from the Ratner Athletic Center is set for 6 p.m in the Windy City.

The Green and White stayed in the top-five in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll, dropping just a spot to No. 2. The Titans are sandwiched between their only losses of the season, as Centre College ranks first with a 25-1 record and WashU moves up a spot to No. 3. Illinois Wesleyan received 13 first-place votes and 1791 total points, while Centre snagged 53 first-place nods and 1838 total points. WashU, with its 20-3 mark, took 10 first-place votes and 1743 total. UW-Oshkosh claimed the fourth spot with 1678 points and Ithaca rounded out the top-five with 1503. 

Illinois Wesleyan is coming off a 3-1 week which saw sweeps over UC Santa Cruz and No. 14 UW-Eau Claire. The Titans also wrapped up College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play, winning the league outright (8-0) with a four-set triumph over North Central. The week concluded with junior Alysa Lawton (Elmhurst, Ill.-IC Catholic Prep) and classmate Alex Bardouniotis (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles) garnering CCIW weekly awards. Lawton took home her sixth defensive honor of the season while Bardouniotis snagged her second offensive.

Bardouniotis leads an attack that sits fourth in the nation in kills per set at 13.62. She sits atop the team leaderboard with 3.43 kills per set and the only Titan over 300 strikes at 322. Last week consisted of a career-high 23 kills against WashU and she added four double-doubles for a season total of 14. Joining Bardouniotis on the attack is sophomore Carly Whitaker (Morton, Ill.-Morton) and senior Cailin Shannon (Lake Park, Ill.-Bloomingdale). Whitaker sits second with 2.52 kills per set, 226 kills, and an attack percentage of .295. Shannon follows with 189 strikes for 2.05 per set and is hitting .262.

The setting pair of senior Sophia Feeney (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) and sophomore Lauren O'Brien (Bloomington, Ill.-Central Catholic) have been churning out assists to sit fourth in the nation in assists per set. Feeney is coming off a week where she delivered 84 assists, and tallied two double-doubles behind a 22-assist, 14-dig performance against NCC and a 25-assist, 10-dig showing against WashU. On the season, Feeney sits with 5.80 assists per set, while O'Brien's tallied 403 with a 4.69 assists per set.

Defensively, Lawton has been a stalwart in the backrow, finding 513 digs for 5.46 per set, good for 16th in the country. She is coming off a historic 30-dig performance, in the sweep over UWEC. Her 30 scoops in the three-set match are the most by a Titan since the game has been played to 25 points. Bardouniotis follows her with 300 digs and 3.19 per set. The St. Charles, Ill. native has tallied double figure digs in eight of the past 10 matches.

The Titans and Maroons meet for the 20th time in the last 17 years and 22nd all-time. UChicago holds a narrow lead, 11-10, against IWU, winning six in a row from 2010-14 after the Green and White took the first four matches. IWU has won two of the last three meetings, but have lost five of seven since 2019. The two have alternated locations the past five seasons, as UC fell in straight sets at the Shirk Center in 2023 and 2025. Since 2022, the home team has swept the away team in the four matches. There has only been one match between the two to go five sets, that being in 2018. Last season, IWU toppled the Maroons in the nationally-ranked contest behind Bardouniotis' team leading nine kills. She delivered three aces while O'Brien handed out 18 assists along with Feeney's 15. 

UChicago will provide a stream of the match but the University Athletic Association moved behind a paywall as a result of its agreement with FloSports. The platform can be found here as fans can access the match by subscribing. FloSports can be purchased three different ways, the first is the Family Plan for $12.99 annually, $9.99 with its annual plan or $24.99 as part of its monthly deal. Live stats will be provided and can be followed here. IWU and UC are set to get underway at 6 p.m from Chicago.